Dream a Little Dream
by co.0kie
Summary: Harry is having disturbing dreams again... Are they real? Can he really be predicting the deaths of his friends and family? And if so, how does he stop them?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Come on, Fred, tie up your shoes quicker! Bill, for heavens sake, take that earring out, you've got to look _respectable_. Ginny, dear, are you sure you don't want me to put your hair in two nice plaits, make it look a bit neater -"

"_No_, Mum," Ginny said for the fourth time that morning.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ron yawned.

"Because you haven't seen Rebecca for seven years, and because we want everyone here to welcome her even though she had to get an early Floo, and because he father is the Ministry's ambassador to Spain," Mrs Weasley said, as though this settled the matter.

"Oh, that's right," Ron mumbled. "The important cousins get special treatment..."

"Quiet," Mrs Weasley snapped. "She'll be here soon, breakfast's nearly ready, everyone's up and dressed and downstairs... I think..." She looked around the crammed kitchen, checking off family members and counting on her fingers as she did so, "Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, me... that's eight... ARTHUR!" she shouted up to the second floor.

Mr Weasley came down the stairs, straightening his robes.

"Why do we have to be up -" he began.

"Don't ask..." Ron warned.

Suddenly, the warm orange flames in the fireplace turned bright green.

"Ooh, here she comes!" Mrs Weasley said excitedly. She seemed to be the only one who felt this emotion - everyone else was either too tired, or just didn't care. A dark figure grew in the flames, then took colour itself, and stepped into the kitchen.

In front of them stood a girl. She was about half a foot shorter than Ron and had shoulder-length red hair, green-blue eyes and a round face. She looked nervously round the kitchen and gave a little smile.

"Um, hello," she said a little nervously.

"Rebecca, dear, it's lovely to see you again!" Mrs Weasley said, as she she strode over to Rebecca, and gave her a huge, auntly hug. "Look how much you've grown!"

"Good to see you too, Aunt Molly," Rebecca said in a slightly muffled voice, what with being quite squashed. Mrs Weasley released her, then gave a meaningful look to everyone else, who suddenly came foreward, all talking very rapidly, which was not easy to understand.

"All right!" Mrs Weasley shouted. "We can all talk at breakfast, which will be ready in about ten minutes. Ron, Ginny, why don't you show Rebecca where she's sleeping?"

"Er, yeah, all right," Ron nodded. "Come on, follow me."

He, Ginny and Rebecca walked up the three staircases to Ron's room.

"You have to sleep in here, it's the biggest and least full," Ron said apologetically.

Rebecca gave another small smile. "It's... cosy. Is that my bed?" she said, pointing to a camp bed in the corner.

"Yeah... Sorry it's nothing better, we reckoned you'd be used to, you know, luxury and all at the Embassy, but..."

"No, not really. Well, yeah," Rebecca decided. "But, you know, this is fine. I can learn to - I mean - this is fine. Yeah." She took the levitation spell off her bags and placed them next to her bed, which she sat down on. Ron did the same, but on his own bed, and began fiddling with a hole in the duvet cover.

Ginny stood awkwardly in the doorway.

Ron cleared his throat. "So, Rebecca -"

"Becci," his cousin said shortly.

"What?"

"Call me Becci. I mean, I don't mind 'Rebecca', and my parents and so on call me that, but my friends call me Becci. Mostly."

"Okay... Becci... how old are you now?"

"Fifteen. I'll be sixteen in October."

"So, you'll be starting fifth year next week, with me," Ron said, in a tone that implied he was trying to keep up the conversation.

"Yeah. What year is everyone else in?"

Ginny leapt at the chance to be included in the conversation.

"I'm gonna start fourth year, Fred and George -"

"They're the twins, right?"

"Yeah, they're gonna be in seventh year, this is their last year at school. All the others have left already. Bill and Charlie are only home for the week, they'll be off again soon," Ginny explained.

"What about the other one, erm, whassisname, Percy? What does he do?" Becci asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "We don't see much of him either, though he still lives here."

"Oh," Becci said with a little laugh. The conversation was a little stilted again. Becci decided to open up another subject. "Have you two done anything interesting over the holidays?" she asked.

"Not really, but I've got some friends arriving tomorrow, Harry and Hermione," Ron told her. "Hermione's a girl -"

"Gathered that."

"- so you'll have another girl here, y'know."

"What about Ginny?"

"She doesn't count."

"Hey!" Ginny protested. "I count!"

"Ginny counts!" Becci agreed.

"Thank you."

Ron rolled his eyes. "_Girls_," he muttered.

"Want to show me your room?" Becci asked Ginny.

"Okay," Ginny began to say, but at that moment, Mrs Weasley shouted up the stairs.

"Ron! Ginny! Rebecca! Breakfast!"

"Come on, then," Ron said. "You can see Ginny's room later."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Becci was woken up the next morning by Ron's alarm clock. Ron said something along the lines of "Ngaarh".

"Turn that off," Becci mumbled drowsily.

"Ngaarh."

"Fine," Becci dragged herself out of bed and padded across Ron's room. She picked up his click and flicked the little charm across to stop the loud classical music that was playing. She gave Ron a shove.

"Why is it on, anyway?"

"Because Harry and Hermione will be arriving soon, and Mum said it would be rude to be asleep when they got here."

"Oh. In which case, I don't like Harry and Hermione."

"You will," Ron smiled lazily.

"Oh, will I? And what makes you so sure of that?" Becci raised one eyebrow out of habit.

"Ugh, don't do that!" Ron said disgustedly.

"...Do what?"

"Only put one eyebrow up! You look like a Malfoy!"

Becci looked shocked and a little horrified. She may have lived in Spain for the last seven years, but she was still a Weasley, and all Weasleys strongly disliked all Malfoys.

"What? Why? That's not a Malfoy trait, is it?"

"Well, it's one particularly gitty Malfoy's trait... Draco Malfoy... He's a Slytherin -"

"Of course."

"- in our year. Adored by his house, hated by ours."

"You mean yours."

"What?"

"Well, I haven't been Sorted yet, have I? I might not get into Gryffindor..." She trailed off.

"Course you will, you're a Weasley!"

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you had no worries about your house before Sorting!"

"Well, yeah, but maybe that's my point. C'mon, don't worry about it."

"Yeah," Becci said a little sadly, sinking onto Ron's bed, which he was still lying in. "Well, I don't have to think about that until next week, so I won't."

"Great attitude for life," Ron said, with heavy sarcasm.

"Well, it's _my_ attitude for life. It hasn't failed me so far - well, actually, it has, but I won't go into that..."

"Let's just get washed and dressed ready for my friends to come -"

"I get first shower," Becci claimed.

"Well - but - I mean - Oh, fine, then..." Ron accepted grudgingly. Becci grabbed her wash bag and headed for the bathroom, a huge smile on her face. This was partly due to her triumph, and partly due to how comfortable she felt here. She was so glad that all the awkwardness had disappeared yesterday. She wasn't sure how it happened, but through the eating, flying, pranking, gaming and general relaxing, it had.

After her shower, she got dressed in a hooded, dark purple jersey and faded jeans, an outfit she would have worn in the Autumn, but it was much colder than she'd anticipated here. She'd have to buy some ner winter clothes when they went to Diagon Alley sometime during the week. She though this whilst walking downstairs, Ron a little way behind. She was also greatly looking foreward to breakfast, having discovered what a brilliant cook her aunt was - much better than the ones at the Embassy.

Ron and Becci walked into the kitchen to find Ginny sitting at the table, reading, and Mrs Weasley frying something.

"Morning," Ron said.

Ginny looked up and Mrs Weasley turned around.

"Oh, good morning, dears," Mrs Weasley said, and went back to the stove.

"Harry and Hermione will be here in about half an hour," Ginny said, smiling.

"Okay." Ron practically collapses into a chair, and said, "Can I have some breakfast now?"

"No, we've got to wait for your friends to get here," Mrs Weasley said with a stern look.

"Oh," Ron whined, but quietly. Becci gave a small sigh and sat next to him. During the next twenty minutes or so, the rest of the Weasleys filtered down the stairs. Percy was first.

"Morning, all," he said in his official tone. "Afraid I won't be able to greet Harry and Hermione, Ron, must get straight off to work. Good day." And he disapparated.

"...Bye, then," Becci muttered.

The next down was Mr Weasley.

"Morning, Weasleys," he said as he came down.

"Only four of us, Dad," Ron said in reply.

"Well, you four are the only ones I'm going to see this morning, then. Oh, good morning, Rebecca, did you sleep well?"

"Er, yeah, fine thanks," Becci smiled.

"The bed wasn't too..."

"No, no, it was fine. Great, even."

"Well, all right then. Molly, if you don't mind, I'll just take a slice of toast. I've got such a busy day -"

"Of course, Arthur."

"Thank you." He too the toast, kissed his wife on the cheek and also disapparated.

Bill and Charlie came down together.

"What's for breakfast?" Bill asked.

"You can't have any yet, you'll have to wait for Harry and Hermione," Mrs Weasley snapped.

"Okay," Bill said, and kept quiet. He picked up the Daily Prophet, which had landed moments before, and began reading the front page headlines. Charlie started sifting though the letters.

"Hogwarts letters are here," he informed everyone. "They should be getting less and less, but we always seem to have enough visitors to take the places of growing Weasley kids." He smiled at Becci.

"I am a Weasley kid!" she said in a mock outraged tone.

"Well, Harry's and Hermione's are here as well as yours, Becci."

"...Oh."

"Fred! George!" Mrs Weasley shouted, causing them all to jump.

Fred and George soon enough descended the stairs, Fred sleepily combing his untidy hair, and George struggling to pull on a jumper.

"Two early mornings in a row," Fred mumbled.

"It's half past nine!" Mrs Weasley told her son, shaking her head.

"Like I said, early," Fred said, rubbing his eyes. He came and sat next to Becci, who gave him a little shove.

"What was that for?" he asked, looking at her blearily.

"I had to get up at five yesterday. Don't you complain about early mornings."

Fred appeared too tired to think of a comeback, so just shrugged and stared at the table.

"Breakfast?" George asked warily.

"No, we're waiting for Harry and Hermione."

"This is becoming a regular occurence," George complained.

"It's only two mornings," Mrs Weasley said in a warning tone. "Besides, I want to make sure Harry has a nice decent meal, with a family. Heaven knows how those Muggles have been treating him..."

Then, as they had yesterday with Becci's arrival, the flames in the huge fireplace changed colour. This time, two figures appeared. They rapidly became more detailed as they entered the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Both of the people were around Becci's age. One was a girl with a lot of bushy brown hair and quite a pretty face. She was holding a suitcase and wearing a huge grin. The other was a boy, about the same height as Becci, who was fairly short herself. He had messy, jet black hair and round glasses. Through the glasses. Becci noticed bright green eyes. This occured a sudden though. She glanced up and saw, under his untidy fringe... Yes! A scar in the shape of a lightning bolt!

"Ron!" the girl shouted, running over to hug him.

"Nice to see you too, Hermione," Ron laughed.

"All right, Ron?" the boy that was Harry Potter asked, with a nod and a smile.

"All right, Harry."

"How is everyone?" Hermione asked, beaming around at Mrs Weasley, Fred, George and Ginny - then she noticed Becci, who smiled shyly. Hermione's brow furrowed, as though she was figuring out whether she should recognise this stranger or not.

"Oh, sorry," Ron said. "This is Becci, my cousin. She's gonna be starting at Hogwarts in our year."

Harry grinned and walked over to shake her hand.

"Another Weasley!" he laughed. "Nice to meet you. I'm Harry -"

"- Potter," Becci finished for him without thinking. "I mean, hi Harry, nice to meet you too..."

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione told a crimson Becci. Then she turned back to Ron. "Erm, let's go up to your room snd unpack," she said with a slightly strange expression on her face.

"Oh, no, you've got to have breakfast first!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed in her motherly way.

"Oh, well, all right then," Harry said as he sat down on the other side of Ron. Hermione sat opposite Becci, beside Ginny.

After an enjoyable breakfast of Hermione telling holiday stories, Mrs Weasley said "Ron, Ginny, Rebecca, take Harry and Hermione upstairs and help them unpack."

Once both trunks were upstairs (helped by the fact that Becci had not been banned from magic over the holidays), Harry and Hermione exchanged awkward glances. Becci noticed Harry give Ron a meaningful look. Becci wondered if they wanted to talk about something... She decided she'd better leave them to it, she didn't want it to seem as though she was trying to invade.

"Come on, Gin," she said. "Let's, um, leave these three to catch up while we check out your stuff, okay?"

Ginny looked a little confused, but shrugged it off, and she and Becci left. Ron waited for them to get down to the second floor, then hastily pushed his bedroom door and walked over to Harry and Hermione.

"All right, Harry, what's going on?" Ron asked, looking a tad nervous. "Mum won't be best pleased if she finds out I've snubbed my cousin for my friends."

"Well, I'll try to make it quick," Harry said.

"Have you already told Hermione?" Ron wondered aloud.

"No, he wanted to wait to tell the both of us," Hermione assured him.

"Okay, basically... I've been having dreams again. It's like last year, only, a little different. I think. I mean, lasy year I sort of felt like they were real, but now it's like I'm certain. Only, well, that one with the old man, that happened, you know, while I was dreaming it. But these dreams... It's more like they're visions. I'm sure they haven't happened yet, because I took out a subscription to the Daily Prophet, and it hasn't said anything about them, unless they're being covered up -"

"What are the dreams about, Harry?" Hermione asked in her most serious voice.

"I'm not sure, they're a little... blurry. That's another difference, last summer they were perfectly clear, but now they're short, less than a minute, and undetailed."

"Do you have any basic idea?"

"Well, yes. They're... they're mostly flashes of people, um, well, being killed."

"_What?!_" Ron and Hermione exclaimed.

"By the killing curse," Harry nodded solemnly. "And I don't know what to do! I'm not sure if these are just forewarnings, or if they're even real, though I'm almost certain they are."

"And... and what do you think they mean?" said Hermione in a voice that implied she knew what was coming.

"I... I think I'm supposed to save these people."

"But - but you don't know that," Ron said, his eyes wide. "I mean, like you said, they might not be real, right?"

"I want to believe that, Ron, more than anything, but I don't think I can... and... I saw... there were some people I knew in there." Harry shut his eyes and turned away.

"What? Who?!" Ron said, looking terrified.

"None of us, none of your families," Harry reassured. "But there was... Sirius and Lupin and Snape and Dean Thomas and Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore. I saw all of them... getting cursed."

Suddenly, they heard something at the door, and all three of them looked over to it. Standing there was Becci, with a look of utter horror on her face. She opened her mouth to speak.

"You _what?_"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Becci sat on Ron's bed, the other three standing around her.

"It's just... so hard to take in..." she murmured. "I had no idea that you were..."

"Hardly anyone does," Hermione said in a reassuring tone. "Most people just think he's a sort of famous hero type."

"People like me," Becci said with a weak and unconvincing smile.

"It's not like you could have known any better," Harry said a little awkwardly.

"How do you deal with it?" Becci asked, suddenly looking up at Harry.

"What?"

"Well, I mean, you live with Muggles, don't you? Can you go to them when you - y'know - have a dream or something...?"

Harry snorted. "Not likely."

"So, how do you deal with it? When, when you're not here or at school, I mean..."

"Um... Well - my godfather has quite a bit of experience in dealing with Dark Magic..."

"Yeah?" Becci said, interested. "Is he, like, an Auror or something?"

"Not exactly..." Harry looked at Ron and Hermione for help.

"Should we tell her?"

"She knows this much already."

"Would she tell anyone else?"

"I don't know..."

"Excuse me!" Becci said, waving a little. "I _am_ right here!"

"All right," Harry knelt down so his head was level with Becci's, and looked directly into her eyes. "But you have to promise not to tell a single soul."

Becci nodded, not wanting to risk speaking - this sudden intense eye contact had caused her stomach to contract slightly.

"My godfather is..." Harry took a deep breath and stood up again, "...Sirius Black."

Becci choked. "S-Sirius Black? _The_ Sirius Black? The Sirius Black that murdered thirteen people?"

"No no no no," Hermione said hurriedly. "He didn't, it was someone else, it... would take a very long time to explain. The fact is, Sirius is innocent. You just have to believe us on this one."

"O - okay," Becci said faintly.

"We should go downstairs," Ron said. "The others will be wondering where we've got to."

"Right," Hermione said. She, Ron and Harry headed towards the door. Becci stood up slowly, sighed to herself, then followed the others.

---

Standing at the top of Diagon Alley outside Gringotts, Becci listened to Mrs Weasley speaking whilst looking around at the bustling street a little excitedly.

"...so meet Ginny and I in the Leaky Cauldron in about two hours, all right?" her aunt said. "Take Rebecca to buy her Hogwarts robes and then get anything else new you need."

"Fine," Ron said. "See you later." Becci followed as he, Harry and Hermione started walking down the street. "We'll go to Madam Malkins first," he told Becci, "then we can go get books and stuff." They reached a shop with a sign that said _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_, and stepped inside. Madam Malkin appeared from the back of the shop.

"Um - hi," Becci said. "I need Hogwarts robes -"

"Stand on the stool, dear," Madam Malkin said, gesturing to a small wooden stool at the back of the shop. Becci did as Madam Malkin said, and waited patiently as her measurements were taken. Once they were finished, Madam Malkin went through a door to find some robes that would fit Becci, just as a girl walked in through the front door of the shop. They all automatically looked up, and Harry suddenly gripped onto a shelf to stop himself falling over.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione said in a shocked voice.

"Ex-girlfriend?" Ron whispered, smirking.

"Very funny," Harry muttered, as the girl started flicking through a rack holding dress robes. "It's worse than that... I saw her in one of my dreams..."

"_What?_" Hermione, Ron, and Becci gasped.

"So," Ron began, "that girl is going to -"

"_Ssh!_"

"Well, we have to tell her!" Becci said, still on the stool.

"Oh, what," Ron said in a sarcastic tone, "'Hi, we've never met before, but just so you know, there are probably evil overlords who want you dead. Take care now!'"

"Ron, be _quiet_," Hermione hissed.

"We have to do something," Harry said, his brow furrowed with anxiety.

"What, then?" Becci said - but it was too late, apparently, because the girl appeared not to find what she was looking for, and left the shop.

"Great," Harry said tonelessly. "Just great."

"Don't worry, Harry," Hermione said consolingly. "If you're meant to save these people, it'll be possible. That's how the world works."

"Right. Sure." Harry's face was set, as though he was trying to hide his feelings of worry and unease. That's the Harry Potter I've read about, Becci thought, as Madam Malkin re-emerged from the back room. The classic hero. Maybe I was partly right after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"_Hurry up, everyone!_" came the call of Mrs Weasley from downstairs. Becci was hurriedly stuffing clothes and school items into her trunk, having not finished the previous night.

"I'm sure I've forgotten something," she muttered.

"Books?" Ron asked, looming over her shoulder.

"Got them."

"Robes?"

"Yes, got them too."

"Um, stuff for potions?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

"Wand?"

"...Oh."

Ron smiled and picked up Becci's wand from under her bed, and handed it to her. She threw it carelessly into her trunk, and returned to winding her hair around her index and middle finger, making it even kinkier than before.

"Stop that, you're irritating me," Ron said.

Becci relented. "Sorry... I'm nervous..."

"_Still?_" said Ron, his tone exasperated.

"Hello, I'll be the only Fifth year getting sorted this evening! I think I have the right to a few jitters, thank you."

Ron looked as though he was about to respond, but Hermione and Harry walked in. "Are you two ready yet?" Hermione said.

"Yeah, I was just finishing packing," said an apologetic Becci.

"Do you need help getting your trunk downstairs?" Harry offered.

Becci shook her head. "No, I can do it myself..." She took her wand out of her trunk again, closed it, then said, "_Wingardium Leviosa!_" The trunk lifted itself, slightly shakily, about fifteen inches off the floor.

"Oh... I keep forgetting you're allowed to do that," Harry said, looking slightly embarrassed.

Becci stuck her tongue out at Harry, then walked out the door, guiding her trunk down the two flights of stairs with Ron, Harry and Hermione following close behind her. The four of them got down to the kitchen, and sat down to a hurried breakfast (after Becci had removed the spell from her trunk). Once they had all finished, Ron asked,

"How're we getting to Platform Nine-and-three-quarters?"

"A few cars from the Ministry," Mrs Weasley said, as Bill and Charlie proceeded to carry everyone's trunks outside.

"Platform what and three what?" Becci whispered to Hermione, who was sitting next to her.

"Nine-and-three-quarters. It's where we get the train to Hogwarts," Hermione informed her.

"Oh, right..."

"All right, everyone," Mr Weasley said as he came down the stairs. "We've got to get going or we'll be late."

Everyone around the table stood up, and was hurried out to the cars by Mrs Weasley. Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione and Becci, as well as Mr and Mrs Weasley, squeezed themselves into two cars. After a rather uncomfortable journey, as they were also accompanied by their excessive amounts of luggage, they all got out at King's Cross Station.

"Hogwarts students are very good at fitting in, aren't they?" Becci remarked, looking around whilst putting her trunk onto a trolley.

Ron snorted with laughter. "Not quite..."

"This way, dear cousin," George said, taking Becci by the forearm and steering her to the barrier through which was the Platform.

"Well, fine then," Becci said, shooting an angry glare at Ron. George let go of her arm, and, without warning, pushed his trunks straight through the apparently solid wall. Becci blinked. "Oh - my... So, you just... go for it?"

"Basically," Ginny nodded. "And - try not to be nervous. Here, I'll go..." Ginny walked forward as her brother's had done and simply stepped right through the wall.

Hermione walked up next to Becci. "All right?"

"If you come at the same time as me," Becci said pleadingly.

"Fine by me," Hermione grinned. "On three, okay? One... two... three..."

Becci took a deep breath, and hurried forward with Hermione. As she came to the barrier, she shut her eyes tight, but kept going. She heard someone calling her name, and stopped, opening her eyes again.

"Oh. I made it."

"You were about to make it right onto the train track," Fred smirked. Seconds later, Ron and Harry came through the barrier, followed by Mr and Mrs Weasley.

"Well, you'd all better get on," Mr Weasley said, gesturing toward the scarlet steam engine. "So... Have a good year, everyone."

Mrs Weasley started going round and hugging everyone. When she got to Becci, she said cheerfully, "Now, don't get in any trouble, or your parents will never forgive us!"

Becci forced a laugh. "Oh, I... won't..."

As everyone finished saying goodbye, Fred, George, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Becci and Ginny climbed onto the Hogwarts Express.

"Bye!" Ginny called, waving from the window as the train started moving.

"Thanks for having us!" Harry said, sticking his head out next to Ginny.

Mr and Mrs Weasley continued waving until they could no longer be seen. Harry and Ginny leant back into the compartment, and Harry shut the window. And so, the journey begins, Becci thought.

After an hour or so, the compartment door opened and three boys walked in. They loudly and cheerily greeted Harry, Ron and Hermione, and acknowledged Ginny as well, but didn't seem to notice Becci.

Once the conversation of their summers had died down, Ron finally seemed to remember his cousin.

"Oh - Becci, sorry, this is Seamus Finnigan -" he gestured to the boy with sandy-blonde hair, who had been talking with an Irish accent, "- Neville Longbottom -" then to a round-faced boy who was clutching a wriggling toad in his hand, and then "- and Dean Thomas -" the third boy, who was a little taller and with dark hair. Becci smiled at them all, but as Ron told her the last boy's name, something struck as familiar... She choked back a gasp, causing Dean to look a little nervous.

"N-nice to meet you all," Becci stammered, her hand automatically going up to the side of her face and twiddling her hair. She smiled in a strangled kind of way.

"You're, um, just starting at Hogwarts then?" Seamus asked, ruffling up his hair.

"Yeah, I've been living in Spain for seven years," said Becci, trying to act like a normal person. "My father's the ambassador..."

"Wow," Dean said, sounding interested, but Becci couldn't look at him. He glanced at Seamus and Neville, but they both shrugged. "Well, we need to, um... go meet someone else..." He headed out of the compartment, beckoning for his friends to follow him. As they walked away, Becci was sure she heard Seamus whisper, "I think you're in there..."

"Gah," she muttered, covering her face with her hands.

"What was all that about?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing," Becci said, her voice muffled.

Hermione looked as though she was trying to think of something quickly. "Um - Ginny, weren't you telling me that you were supposed to meet your friend Laura on the train?"

Ginny glanced down at her watch. "Oh, you're right... Okay, I'll probably see you all later..." She stood up and left the compartment. As soon as the door was shut again, Becci finally removed her hands to reveal her beet-red face.

"I'm sorry!" she whined. "It's just... You saw him, didn't you, Harry? I remember you saying you saw him in one of your dreams..."

Harry nodded slowly. "But, you can't tell him, okay?"

"I won't... Hey, how come you lot didn't start acting like beached goldfish as soon as you saw him?"

"Well, I guess we were prepared to see him," Ron said, shrugging.

"We probably should have told you that he went to Hogwarts," Hermione said apologetically.

Becci groaned. "Now he's going to think I fancy him..."

"You mean you don't?" said Ron, with a very fake innocent expression.

"Ha ha." Becci gave Ron a deadly look. "Oh well. I'll just have to be more prepared next -"

Her sentence was cut short, however, as the compartment door was slid open for the second time. And, for the second time, three boys walked through it. But they were not like the three who had come in before. Two were enormous and muscled, and neither looked like the brightest. The third had blonde hair and a far smaller build, although was undeniably good looking. A cruel smile spread across his face as her surveyed the passengers of the compartment.

"Well, well, Potter," he said in a drawling voice, "you're back, I see. Just goes to show that not all wishes can come true."

Harry narrowed his eyes slightly. "Apparently not, Malfoy. Otherwise you'd be a flobberworm by now."

"My my, that was almost close to actual wit. In a terribly boring Gryffindor sort of way, I mean."

Malfoy smirked as his friends sniggered, a sound uncannily like the snorting of pigs, and glanced around, his cold grey eyes settling on Becci. "And who's this? Don't tell me one of you has got a girlfriend... You seem to go for redheads, don't you, Potter. Says a lot, considering who your best friend is -"

"My name," Becci interrupted loudly, "is Rebecca Weasley."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow (to Becci's private disappointment). "_Another_ Weasley?" he said with great contempt. "Dear God, aren't there enough of you already?"

Ron stood up, but Hermione took hold of his forearm. Becci's hands clenched themselves into fists.

"I think maybe you should leave, Malfoy," said Harry. Becci could see, despite the rather cool tone in which he spoke, that he clearly felt as much loathing for Malfoy as Malfoy did for him.

"Do you?" Malfoy replied boredly. "So… _Rebecca_… Are you a long lost sister, or something? Were they just too poor to keep you so they dumped you in a box somewhere?"

"_Actually,_" Becci was finding it hard to keep her voice steady, "I'm Ron's cousin. I've been living in Spain because my fa-"

"Happy, Malfoy?" Ron said, cutting her off. "Have you reached your annoying quota yet?"

Malfoy flashed Ron a sarcastic smile, then walked out of the compartment, beckoning his friends to follow him.

"Why didn't you let me finish?" Becci asked, sounding a little indignant.

"Trust me," Harry said, "you don't want to get into a my-father-is-better-than-yours match with Draco Malfoy."


End file.
